Lugar Lashes Out at Club for Growth Poll

Sen. Dick Lugar&rsquo;s campaign is questioning the validity of a Club for Growth-sponsored poll that showed the Indiana Republican virtually tied with his primary opponent.

&ldquo;The data released by the Club for Growth does not resemble anything we are seeing,&rdquo; Lugar political director David Willkie said in a Wednesday statement. &ldquo;Before commenting on a purely publicity driven poll commissioned by an outside group that has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars against us, we need to know much more about the methodology.&rdquo;

The club-sponsored poll showed state Treasurer Richard Mourdock with a small advantage over Lugar, 34 percent to 32 percent, in the Basswood Research poll released this week. But Mourdock&rsquo;s 2-point lead is within the poll&rsquo;s 4.4-point margin of error.

The conservative, anti-tax organization has not endorsed Mourdock, but its president, Chris Chocola, has frequently criticized Lugar&rsquo;s record. Earlier this month, the club sponsored anti-Lugar television ads.

&ldquo;An incumbent who sits at 32 percent in his own party&rsquo;s primary, and trails a much less known challenger, is in a world of trouble,&rdquo; Chocola, a former Indiana Congressman, said in a statement. &ldquo;Senator Lugar is a very decent man, but it&rsquo;s clear from the poll that after 35 years, Hoosier Republicans are eager for a more conservative alternative.&rdquo;

About one-third of those polled, 34 percent, said they were undecided about the GOP Senate primary field.

Basswood Research conducted the poll of 500 likely Republican primary voters July 23-24.